Firefighters pull man out of Los Feliz storm drain

LOS FELIZ – How far can you travel in L.A. by storm drain? A man who was helped out of an underground storm drain by firefighters this afternoon in Los Feliz said he had started his below-ground journey about two miles away from where he had emerged.

The man became stranded in an underground storm drain near DeLongpre and Hyperion avenues, according to LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey. Firefighters and an urban rescue team were called to the scene at about 1:40 p.m. after bystanders reported hearing sounds coming from the storm drain.

A rope was lowered about 30 feet, and the man was able to pull himself out with some assistance from firefighters, Humphrey said. He had sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The man told firefighters he had entered the storm drain system near Beverly Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, which is about two miles southeast of where he had emerged. However, Humphrey said the department could not confirm the man’s story.

Could a person travel through L.A.’s miles of underground storm drains? A person familiar with the system said the network is made up of fairly narrow pipes as well as large, square conduits that are eight-feet tall. A person could enter the system through a manhole or an entrance cut into the curb, he said.

L.A. storm drain map | NavigateLA.com

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in the 1990s a group of Cacophony Society members hiked underground from the Los Angeles River (near where the 2 passes over…) to Eagle Rock, coming up around midnight in a quiet neighborhood close to Ellenwood & Yosemite. i’m estimating that at about 4 or 5 miles.

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